After
leaving the Royal Navy, Kim joined BOAC as a First Officer on the
VC10. Whilst this was a good introduction to the world of civilian flying, it
rapidly became apparent that the aircraft was noisy and thirsty and would be
withdrawn from service.

As a result, Kim joined Cathay Pacific Airways in 1977 and lived in Hong Kong for 21 years. He started as a First Officer on the 707 andworked his way up the system, ending up as a
747Captain - in which capacity he retired from flying in 1998 after 35 years.

His last flight into retirement was, by a happy coincidence, the last commercial flight out of the legendary Kai
Tak Airport in Hong Kong -which shut down immediately after he was airborne.

His next visit there was 16 years later, arriving at the Hong Kong Cruise Terminal - which is built on the threshold of the old runway 31 at Kai Tak where he took off on that last flight on July 6th 1998. Stepping off from the RMS Queen Mary 2 was a strange moment!

He lectures to the Royal Navy (see the Testimonials here) about the Royal Naval Division in World War 1 - a largely forgotten body of brave men, who disbanded in 1919, after winning 6 VCs and over 900 awards for Gallantry. For a "taster" of the RND, see page 5 or click here.